The first time I met Les Campbell was at his Sky Meadow gallery where my wife and I went to see his amazing photographs and find one for our house. When Les found out I had an interest in photography and the Quabbin it took very little time for him to take me to his collection of old photographs of the Swift River valley that he curated and tell me stories of the former towns and their residents. Keeping those memories alive was a motivating factor for him to found the Friends of Quabbin. Les was one of the kindest and most generous people I’ve ever known. I learned so much talking with Les about photography and listening to his patient instructions on matting.
Website
Pioneer Valley Photographic Artists
Quabbin Photo Group
Friends of Quabbin
Les was amazingly supportive of fellow photographers in many ways such as taking the time to attend their photographic exhibit openings. Here is Les at Mark Lindhult’s opening reception for “Habitats & Inhabitants” at the UMass Amherst Design Building Gallery.
Les saw one of my photos of the Quabbin Tower at sunrise using a big lens taken from where Old Enfield Road disappears under water at Gate 5. He commented that he hadn’t seen the tower photographed that way before. Les’s positive comment about the composition provided the impetus for me to explore photographing the tower with a telephoto lens but with the moon as the main subject behind the tower. I researched the moon’s path and found that it would be rising directly behind the tower when viewed from near Old Enfield Road for the Strawberry Moon in April and I hope that Les would be happy with the result.
Les was well known for his landscape images of the Quabbin which brought the viewer into the photograph so that they felt as if they were experiencing the landscape. This was one of the lessons I learned from Les and is one I hope that I’ve achieved with this image of the Quabbin as viewed from New Salem with the path leading down to the overlook
at sunrise.
Les took many bird photographs and set up elaborate natural looking feeders and perches as well as planting flowers for the birds. This image of a Ruby-throated Hummingbird at a Phlox flower is a tribute to Les’s fabulous bird photos.
Members of the Pioneer Valley Photographic Artists and Quabbin Photo Group were invited to submit their photography in tribute to Les Campbell.
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